Tiny Tales of Strawed Hats, Ficlet Collection
by drcalvin
Summary: Various shortfics about the Straw Hat crew. Some written for 64damn-prompts, some for personal prompts. GEN, no warnings
1. Luffy: Looking Good

**Looking good **

**A _Strong World _ficlet for muggedthird**

They suit up, in somber black and strict white, deep red and bright purple breaking through the strictness. Ties all the way.

The heavy coat settles on Luffy's shoulders. It will mark him the captain, even to the fools who have dared to steal their navigator. Robin's hands put the ties around their necks, Sanji fusses with Chopper's handkerchief and Usopp pulls the last straps of his armor tight.

The presence behind him might've pulled a vest and suit jacket over his white shirt, but when Luffy turns around he feels a smile spread on his face. Zoro will never look anything but a punk, too rough around the edges, too rude to even pretend.

"Nah, Zoro, whadd'ya think?" he asks, admiring the flare of the coat-sleeve when he lifts his arm. It's amazing what Franky and Usopp managed to pull together from their stores of clothes. He recalls Nami's advice – you never know when you might need a bit of formal stuff! – with a pang in his heart. She'll be back soon, though, and then he'll thank her. She keeps on being so smart.

Zoro is checking his swords one last time, his mind already drifting off into the mist of battle. "Think about what?"

"Think Shiki will complain, or do I look like a proper captain now?"

The other man stills for a moment, then his eyes narrow and he gives Luffy a more thorough look-over. Sandals, still, because he won't put on any uncomfortable crap shoes just for stupid Shiki's sake. But the trousers are ironed, the suit used to be Sanji's and the red shirt is more somber than the bright vests he usually wears. Even Luffy had to admire the thick gold fastenings when Usopp showed him the coat, though he wouldn't usually wear something quite so showy. Not yet, at least...

"Nah." Zoro purses his lips and reaches over, taking Hat from the table and plopping it on Luffy's head. He adjusts it, letting his hand linger for just a moment and then sink down along Luffy's cheek, thumb brushing the scar beneath his eye. "That's better."

Luffy grins at him for a moment, then pushes his hat forward.

"Ready to kick some ass?" he asks his crew, already grabbing his weapon and heading for the door.

They answer as one, determined and sure and the worn old hat on his head looks like a crown when the Straw Hats go to war.

"Aye, Captain!"


	2. Sanji: Demons Speak Another Language

**Demons speak another language**

_Theme: #4 Lost scene (for 64damn-prompts) – Sanji at Okama Island._

He spent two years in hell. Running until the soles of his feet were on fire, gasping for knife-sharp breaths with the vengeful hordes howling behind him. They were endless, if one shrieking bunch grew tired, another twenty easily took their place.

There were fights. Bitter moments when he was flung into the sand and came up, eyes full of stinging grit, to find himself buried in lace, drowned in powder and perfume. There were the times when their laughter ended: when his kick crushed a overly large, but oh-so-carefully made up nose or his desperate struggle caused a fancy heel to snap off. Then, their true claws came out; all the dirty tricks that men who had spent years being ridiculed and targeted have learned in desperation.

He will complain long and loud about those times, to anyone in his crew willing to listen. He'll screech it at the algae-headed swordsman whenever the bastard uses his little scar to score points with Nami-swan (and he does, don't you dare claim otherwise!). He'll grumble it toward the captain whenever the topic of _his_ stay on the Island of Women comes up the lucky, unappreciative bastard.

What Sanji won't mention are the other times. When he had won. When then harpies, for a few short days, turned into something beyond men or women – when they were simply cooks together.

It's not that he's ashamed to have stood next to a cross-dresser and fileted fish. Nor does it bother him that his new secret recipe for dearest Robin's morning cappuccino is a modification of one he learned from a lumbering oaf who refused to wear anything but leather corsets. For cooking, his most cherished art, he will suffer almost any indignity.

No, the problem is that neither the Kamabakka inhabitants, nor Sanji, ever actually stopped sniping at each other. Or grumbling, yelling, insulting and raging for that matter. The words remained the same.

Their meaning, though... over the tempting scents of the cooking pot, to the sound of knives on a cutting board? Then those words are language of chefs and their true meaning only becomes clear when the customer tastes the finished dish and their eyes close in silent appreciation.


	3. Zoro: On Fate

**- On Fate -**

Characters: Zoro, Usopp

Rating/Warnings: Gen, PG, no warnings

Theme: #51 Above (for 64damn-prompts at LJ)

One of the reasons that Roronoa Zoro would, loudly and possibly violently, oppose any negatively voiced opinions regarding his sense of direction – or lack thereof – was that he knew perfectly well that he always ended up where he needed to go. And while Zoro wasn't quite sure of the fancy terminology, he knew that if 1 (sword) + 2 (swords) = 3 (Santōryū), and (1) was his usual way of getting around (walking in the direction his gut told him to go) and (2) was ending up where he needed to be (preferably a nice little fight where he might, on the really good days, have an near-death epiphany and improve his sword skills) then _obviously_ this equaled (3): Fate was guiding him.

The only reason he hadn't bothered to explain this to all his shipmates was that Luffy was too bad at maths, while the cook seemed too ignorant of destiny to truly grasp his explanation. Nami had no problems whatsoever with maths and was slowly being converted to the concept of Fate with prolonged exposure to their captain. However, since she could only count money, Zoro feared for what such an explanation would mean to his plans of living his life as a free pirate, instead of as a debt-shackled servant to a sea-witch.

He had actually told Usopp once, when the boy asked him why in heaven's name he thought that north was up anyway.

"I didn't know that I would have to be captured by the Marines and hang at a post for nine days to get here, now did I?"

Usopp seemed inclined to interrupt, but Zoro shushed him. It was rare that he was in a story-telling mood, and even when he was, he preferred to get to the point quickly. "I had to get captured though, or I couldn't ever have become the Greatest Swordsman. Because if there is a Pirate King, he needs to have the Greatest at his side. Because a king with the second or third greatest as his man wouldn't be the true King, and if the Greatest was _not_ on the King's side, he couldn't let anyone call himself King of the Seas unchallenged. And once they met up, one of them wouldn't be anything at all. Do you follow?"

"Well, okay, that makes halfway sense. But what does being tied up..."

"I wasn't planning on following the Pirate King, because I thought the Pirate King was already dead. And I had to think that too, because if I had already known about Luffy when I decided to become the Greatest, everyone else would also have known about him. And then they would have killed him before I could be by his side and make sure that didn't happen. But because I didn't know that Luffy was waiting for me so that we could reach the top together, I couldn't simply go meet up with him when he started his journey, because I didn't know where to find him. Or that I needed to find him at all. So, you see, that's why I had to go to the village where the idiot son was, so that he could capture me. Then I could wait there for Luffy to catch up and now we can fulfill our destinies together."

"Aaaand that's why you think North is up? I'm sorry, but what?"

Zoro tapped the map Usopp had brought to illustrate his question. "Where is this?"

"North Blue."

"And where is it?"

"It's... oh, but come on, Zoro! Just because it's on the top of the map doesn't mean it's on the – you can't treat the world like it's _flat_ Zoro, that's not how it works!"

He drew Their sword and held it up, catching the sun with the tip. He hoped she was listening, because even if he hadn't come all the way yet, they were already making echoes.

"It's the top of the world. It's up. It's the direction of the Heavens, and even if I end up in hell on the way, I'll make sure my name echoes that far. I'm always going upwards, Usopp. It's just that sometimes, fate has to slow me down a bit, or lead me on a longer road, so that I find everything I need to reach the top."

Usopp looked caught between exasperation and amazement. "And that's why Sanji had to go find you on that island yesterday, when it took you _three hours_ to get back to the ship? An island, I must point out, which you could pretty much spit across."

Shrugging, Zoro sheathed his sword. "Sometimes, fate is a bit slow, I admit. But think about it,. How easy can it be to work fast when you're forced to use tools like idiot sons, even more idiotic ax-handed fathers and clowns that split their own hands and feet off?"

"_...what?_"


End file.
